Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Albanese government has committed to ensuring the family law system is safer, is more accessible, is simpler to use and delivers justice and fairness for all Australian families. This is a significant task but successive reviews of the family law system over the last decade have provided us with valuable guidance about where our priorities should lie.

These bills send a strong message that the best interests of children should be the central concern of the family law system. Passage of these bills provides an important opportunity to break down barriers to understanding the law, deliver on our commitment to value and listen to children's views in matters affecting them, and ensure the family law courts have all the critical family violence, child abuse and neglect risk information they need to make a decision in the best interests of children.

The needs of every child are unique. The Family Law Amendment Bill and the Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill will ensure all children involved in the family law system have their needs met as effectively and safely as possible. I encourage the Senate to support these bills.

Question agreed to.

Original question, as amended, agreed to.

Bills read a second time.